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Here’s a little draft ditty for Brian Miller’s prompt on puzzles on http://dVersepoets.com (dVerse Poets Pub.) I call it a draft because I haven’t really fixed the verse form.

Since posting, I’ve added a recording of the poem, since I have a particular rhythm in mind. If you’d like to hear it, click below.

You’re wrong. Tick.You made a mis-tock-take. And now there’s no clock–tickthat can be turnedtock–back–tick. The stock pricesdropped–tick. The man kickedthe buck—tock–with the t’s-ticknot crossed–tock–nor the i’s dotted–tick–fuck; the whole thing a mess-tock–’cause you made amiss
tick, yourself a mistook–tock– you less than a tick, miss–You less than—

*******************************This really is a draftish poem for the terrific and exacting Mama Zen at With Real Toads to write something (in 75 words or less) about “the hard stuff.” For me, making a mistake–becoming conscious of making a mistake–is an extremely unpleasant experience. Unfortunately, it is one I have with great frequency. (You’d think I’d get used to it!)

Here’s a reading. I’m not sure I got the tick/tocks right, but it will give some idea–

I cannot bear to lay you in the ground–
not even in your ash state, shaped by urn;
it seems so cold below that clay-clung mound,
too harshly gelid to comfort harshest burn.

It’s true pooled ash leaves little to discern–
it cannot bare; it lays you into ground-
up bóne and góne and chár, while I still yearn
for spark–the live shine caught upon the round

of tooth, cheek, pupil–that in rebound
caught me. I want to know, but fear to learn
just why I cannot lay you in the ground
without my throat hard-bartered for a quern

that re-mills pain with every swallow’s turn,
that grínds what’s already fíne around
and round, allowing neither fruit nor fern–
that cannot bear to lay you in the ground.

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Here’s a reading of the poem. (I sometimes hate to take people’s time with readings, but in this case, the poem works much better read. I have changed one word since posting the reading, but it’s pretty minor.)

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The above is a quatern – a new poetic form for me, that involves a repeating line. I wrote it for Gay Cannon’s challenge on dVerse Poets Pub (“Form For All”). I am afraid I used a slightly longer (pentameter) line than recommended for the form. I urge you to check out Gay’s explanation of the form and the wonderful poets at dVerse.

And – if you have a moment – check out my books! Perfect for CHEAP Christmas presents! Poetry, GOING ON SOMEWHERE, (by Karin Gustafson, illustrated by Diana Barco). 1 Mississippi -counting book for lovers of rivers, light and pachyderms, orNose Dive. Nose Dive is available on Kindle for just 99 cents!

Onces I could recall
were once numbered in the many,
like a building so stories tall–
now, not any.
Not true, not fair. Still, a lodging rather small

now houses about all.
And it seems to be built of scone,
the kind with currents sultanal–
I’d prefer stone,
which wouldn’t flake as I walk down the hall,

spot grease on every wall
instead of portraits, landscapes, fine,
their contours round me like a shawl,
warm with that time–
lost many–before memory’s crumbled fall.

********************************A reading of the poem:

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My picture, in case for some strange reason you can’t quite tell, is meant to be a scone house. I am posting this for a With Real Toads challenge of Kerry O’Connor to write a poem in a rhyming and meter format developed by the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). I’ve used one of Rossetti’s images (the face in the window of the scone house), and also stretched/squeezed in some of his background leaves.

For American readers, sultanas are known in the U.S. as golden raisins – I’m afraid I’ve made them too dark in my picture. A “memory palace” is an age-old technique for memorization, which involves placing whatever is to be remembered in a slightly strange context in some part of a known physical space. (Joshua Foer has written a wonderful book about this – MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN.) I was not frankly thinking about that use of memory when initially writing the poem, but it’s kind of a fun connection.

Check out Kerry’s prompt for more info on Rossetti’s form, and also for other poets taking the challenge.

Also, if you get a moment, CHECK OUT MY BOOKS! Great for Christmas presents! Poetry, GOING ON SOMEWHERE, (by Karin Gustafson, illustrated by Diana Barco). 1 Mississippi -toddlers’ counting book for lovers of rivers, light and pachyderms, orNose Dive. Nose Dive is available on Kindle for just 99 cents!